Simon Terodde: It’s really pleasing

“I noticed in pre-season that Thomas had a strong left foot. That’s why I asked him to pick me out in the box after two minutes,” said Terodde. It was no coincidence that Ouwejan’s ability from set pieces led to two goals within a short period of time, said the 33 year-old, because “we have worked on that so much in training.”

Two Ouwejan free kicks

The hard work paid off after just 61 seconds, when Terodde lost his marker and scored with a volley following a measured cross from a free-kick on the right-hand side. 19 minutes later, this same combination linked up again, albeit this time from the other side of the pitch. Ouwejan’s free kick found its way to Terodde once again, who, as any striker must, simply had to tap it in from close range.

The attacker, who had already scored the week before in the 3-1 defeat against his old club Hamburger SV, notched his 144th and 145th second-division goals. They take Schalke’s number nine even closer to the top of the all-time 2. Bundesliga scoring charts. He only requires nine more goals to match the record of current leader Dieter Schatzschneider, and six more goals will bring him level with second-placed Karl-Heinz Mödrath.

Terodde insists he is not bothered about personal records. For the Bocholt-born star, it is far more important that the team is successful and can get their next three points of the season, which has only just kicked off. In his post-match interview, and based on the course of the game, he described the 3-0 win at the Holstein-Stadion as “perhaps a bit flattering. However, we have worked hard and defended well against a team with a lot of quality in its ranks and didn’t reach the promotion play-off just by chance last season. We scored our goals at the right times.”

The striker explained that the recipe for success for the Royal Blues is the closeness of the squad. The three goals clearly showed that the team is together. Terodde commented: “It’s so pleasing to see how we celebrated the goals.”